Apparatus for coating wire or electric conductors.



I No. 687,5l8. Patented Nov. 26, l90l.

W. S. CLARK 8:. G. H. RUPLEY. APPARATUS FOR COATING WIRE 0R ELECTRIC CONDUCTOBS.

(Application Med Dec. 28, 1900.1 (N0 Modem 4 Sheets-Sheet I.

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No. 687,5l8. Patented Nov. 26, I90l.

W. S. CLARK & G. H. RUPLEY. APPARATUS FOR COATING WIRE 0R ELECTRIC CONDUCTORS.

(Application filed Dec. 28, 1900.)

4.Sheets-Sheat 2.

(No Model.)

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No. 687,518. I Patented rm. 26, .1901.

- w. s. CLARK & a. H. RUPLEY.

APPARATUS FOR COATING WIRE 0B ELECTRIC CUNDUCTOBS.

(Application fild Dec. 28, 1900.; (No Iludal.) 4 Sheets-Sheef 3,

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEO WALLACE S. CLARK AND GEORGE H. RUPLEY, OF SCHENECTADY, NEW

YORK, ASSIGNORS TO THE GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPO- RATION OF NEW YORK.

APPARATUS FOR COATING WIRE OR ELECTRIC CONDUCTORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No 687,518, dated November 26, 1901.

Original application filed December 15, 1899, Serial No. 740,402. Divided and this application filed December 28 1900. Serial No. 41,341. (No model.)

permit the manufacture of an electric con ductor covered with a dense coherent elastic 1 insulating material which may be applied so as to envelop the conductor, when desired, in a thin skin or film.

A further object of the invention is to cheapen the manufacture of insulated conductors and to enhance their insulating properties while reducing the space occupied by the insulation, thereby permitting a greater bulk of conducting material to be inclosed in a given space in electrical apparatus.

In a copending application we have specifically claimed our improvements as em-, bodied in the process and product containing such features, the present application being restricted to an improved machine by which such product is made.

In carrying out our invention we place upon the conductor a uniform coating containing a compound of an amorphous or structureless cellulose and retard its drying after'being applied to the conductor, thereby insuring a uniform thickness of the film or coating and intimate and uniform adhesion between the coating and the surface of the conductor, also a toughening of the covering and absence of cracks due to uneven shrinkage. We employ asoluble compound of cellulose, to which we adda vehicle which will combine with the solvent of slow drying or evaporating qualities relatively to the solvent and mix the ingredients in such proportions as to form a compound fluid at the working temperature and lead the conductor into contact with the compound, whereby the latter is covered with a thin film, and as it is led away from the bath or coating apparatus the coating is evenly distributed around the conductor and the latter then led through a drying apparatus and wound upon a reel. \Ve have obtained the best results thus far by employing a solution of pyroxylin in methyl alcohol, to which suflicient amyl acetate has been added to retard the drying. If the alcohol alone be employed as a solvent, its highly volatile character permits an ineffective application of the amorphous cellulose compound to the conductor and leaves the coating in a poor condition to withstand service. A rapid drying tends to crack the coating, leaving it valueless as an insulating medium, particularly where exposed to water or damp air, and leaves it brittle and liable to crack and chip off under flexure of the conductor. The addition of the amyl acetate adds toughmess to the coating and gives it an elasticity which prevents cracks in drying and permits it to withstand bending of the conductor.

Our invention may be carried out by the employment of a variety of apparatus; but the form we have found effective in practice comprises a bath of coating material in which revolves a grooved wheel to pick up the insulating material, the top of the groove projecting above the bath, and devices for leading the conductor tangentially to the groove. By this organization good distribution of the coating material on the conductor is effected. The conductor is led to the grooved wheel from the supply-reel and after being coated is carried through a drying box or chamber, then passes through a testing-bath for locating any defective spots in the insulation, after which it is wound upon a receiving-reel ready for shipment.

In the accompanying drawings is shown a preferred apparatus embodying our improvements, though other apparatus embodying the generic features set forth in the claims fall within the scope of our invention.

Figure 1 is a diagram showing the mode of procedure in insulating conductors according to our improvement-s. Fig. 2 is a plan view of a machine adapted to carry out the im provements. Fig. 3 isaside elevation of the same, and Fig. 4 is an end elevation.

Referring first to Fig. l, 1 represents a supply-reel upon which the naked wire to be insulated is wound. From this reel the wire is led over a grooved wheel 2, mounted to revolve in a bath 3 of insulating material. The material is carried up from the bath in the peripheral groove of the wheel 2, any excess being scraped off from the edge of the groove by a scraper or knife 4.v The conductor.

passes through the groove, so as to bear upon its bottom, the groove being of suflicient depth to submerge the conductor in the insu' latingmaterialcarried aroundthereon; From this it will be evident that the material is not in a freely mobile fluid condition, butis sufficiently viscous to prevent rapid flowing away from the groove during the rotation of the wheel 2. A scraper 5 may be employed in the bath to remove the partially-dried accumulation of material from the groove. After the application to the wire by the wheel the material firmly adheres and floods all the parts of the surface, makingan intimate contact therewith. The wire thus coated is led over a drying-trough, which may be a cham her or a mere heated surface. This heater is'indicated at 6 7, representing a row of gasjets or other source of heat impinging on its I under side. The conductor then passes over suitable guides and is led through a testingbath 8, which may be mercury or water, after which it is wound upon a receiving-reel 9. The bath may be inclosed in a metal vessel electrically connected with a relay 10, controlling an alarm or other indicator 11. A battery 12 or other source of electromotive force may be connected to the reell, so as to include the wire in the circuit. Thus when any break occurs in the insulation the testing-circuit is closed and the relay operated, giving notice to the workman that a defective point in the insulation is passing through the testing-bath, when it may be tagged for subsequent treatment.

Referring to Figs. 2, 3, and 4, which illustrate an assembled machine for carrying out the operations indicated in the diagram of .Fig. 1, 13 represents a drive-shaft, to which power may be applied by a pulley 14 and transmitting motion through a train of gears to the reel 9, mounted' loosely on its shaft, but prevented from freely turning by a light friction-brake 15, the pressure of which may be varied by a set-screw, as indicated in Fig. 2. A train of gearing communicates motion to the shaft on which is mounted the grooved coating-wheel 2 and to a guide-wheel 16 for leading or guiding the wire to the coatingwheel 2. Motion is communicated to a grooved feed-guide 17 for the receiving-reel 9, (see Figs. 2 and 4,) carried by a nut fed along a screw 18, to which a reciprocating motion is communicated by means of a straight and a crossed belt, (respectively indicated at 19 and 20,) one or the other of which is thrown into clutch with the shaft on which the screw 18 is carried. The-belts are alternately thrown into operation by a clutch 21, (see Figs. 2 and 4,) adapted to lock one or the other of the loose pulleys 22 23 to the screw-shaft. These pulleys are provided with a spider adapted to receive a projectionon each side of the clutch 21. The clutch is shifted by a bar 24, carried on a sliding rod 25, on which are fastened two collars 26 26, alternately engaged by a'projection 27 from the traveling nut on the screwshaft 18. The position of these nuts may be controlled by a set-screw, so as to vary the length of receiving-reel on which the wire may be wound. A pivoted bar 28, carrying a roller 29, journaled in its free end, cooperates with a double cam 30, fixed to the shaft 25, to hold the clutch 21 in engagement with the pulley to which it has last been connected until the last turn of wire on that layer is wound, after which the arm 27 reaches the opposite limit of traverse and disconnects the clutch 21 from the pulley it engages and effects connection with the other pulley. The

cam 30 and roller 29 permit the clutch to be shifted into engagement with the loose pulley and bear against the same under the thrust of roller 29 until the lateral projection can enter an opening in the spider or face of the pulley.

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l. A machine for coating wires or electric conductors, comprising a grooved carrier for a coating material, means for supplying the material in a fluid condition to one part of said carrier, and means for carrying the wire or conductor through the groove at another part of the carrier.

2. A machine for insulating electric conductors, comprising a grooved carrier for the coating material, adapted to immerse the conductor, and means for feeding the coating material to the carrier below the level of the conductor.

3. A machine for insulating electric conductors, comprising a grooved wheel, a bath of insulating compound traversed by the wheel, and means for leading the conductor through the groove tangentially to the wheel.

4. A machine for insulating electric conductors, comprising a grooved carrier for. the insulating compound, means for feeding the compound in a fluid state to the carrier, guides for leading the conductor through the groove, a heater for drying the compound, and a reel for receiving the finished conductor.

5. A machine for insulating electric conductors, comprising a grooved wheel dipping in a bath of insulating compound, a scraper for removing the excess of compound carried by the wheel, and means for leading a conductor through the groove.

6. A machine for coating wires or electric IIO conductors, comprising a coating groove In witness whereof we have hereto set our through which the wire or conductor is led, hands this 26th day of December, 1900.

of a depth sufl'ieient to inciose the wire, and WALLACE S. CLARK. means for feeding a coating material to the GEORGE H. RUPLEY. groove so as to maintain the wire submerged W'itnesses: in the coating material only while in transit BENJAMIN B. HULL,

through the groove. FRED RUss. 

